MacTech Blog

Jul 26

Robust traffic spurs demand for 3G/4G gateways

ABI Research (www.abirsearch.com) has found that the overall 2012 wireless network equipment market was quite challenging for infrastructure vendors, but the incessant demand for 3G and 4G mobile broadband will continue to drive demand for mobile packet core equipment. The Mobile Packet Data Core Network infrastructure market will reach $1.8B in 2013.

"Continued growth in 3G and 4G traffic will propel the Mobile Packet Core Infrastructure to a cumulative $10B market over the next five years," says Joe Hoffman, principal analyst at ABI Research.

The overall mobile core network equipment market declined 12% in Q1 2013 from the rather moribund Q4 2012. Reflecting increased data demand, the packet data core market continues to expand and is up 22% over Q4 2012, and up 30% over the trailing 12 months. In North America the hugely popular success of LTE is rapidly supplanting 2G and 3G traffic and...

The computer graphics (CG) industry has been a growth industry since it was established in the late 1970s. It has weathered the storms of the recession over the last five years and is now showing signs of renewed vigor and potential, partly due to a big boost from mobile, according to new data from the Jon Peddie research group (www.jonpeddie.com).

The computer graphics hardware market was worth US$93 billion in 2010 and is expected to exceed $107 billion in 2013, with software growing slight faster than hardware, says Jon Peddie. In 2012 the CG software market was worth $14 billion (not counting services, maintenance and other aspects) and is expected to grow to $17 billion by 2013 as the industry shakes off the remaining effects of the recession and starts upgrading software tools.

The sharp curtailment of household and corporate spending during the recession has resulted in a renewed desire among...

The digitization of critical infrastructures has provided substantial benefits in terms of socio-economic developments -- improved productivity, better connectivity, greater efficiencies. Yet some of these attributes also carry significant risks.

Always-on Internet connectivity has ushered in a new cyber-age where the stakes are higher. Disruption and destruction through malicious online activities are the new reality: cyber-espionage, cyber-crime, and cyber-terrorism. Despite the seemingly virtual nature of these threats, the physical consequences can be quite tangible.

The cyber protection of critical infrastructure has become the most immediate primary concern for nation states. The public revelation of wide-spread state-sponsored cyber-espionage presages an era of information and cyber warfare on a global scale between countries, political groups, hacktivists, organized crime syndicates, and civilian society -- in short, to anyone with access to an Internet-...

ABI Research (www.abiresearch.com) has been actively tracking the LTE market, assessing operator commitments both current and future. Out of 470 LTE commitments tracked, 193 have gone commercial. Over the next two years, the research group anticipates another 123 network commitments to go commercial. Additionally, ABI Research is currently tracking 69 LTE-TDD commitments.

"By 2018, LTE deployments should deliver population coverage of 57% (4.2 billion) and 31% (2.3 billion) in legacy WCDMA and CDMA2000 markets respectively. Significantly, LTE-TDD coverage should achieve 49% population coverage by the end of the five year period," says Jake Saunders, vice president of forecasting at ABI Research.

These coverage targets will be driven by macrocells and small cells. By 2018, the number of LTE macrocell base stations will reach 2.43 million to achieve the population coverage targets. Small cells are an...

Over 31% of mobile developers today are supporting Near Field Communications (NFC) in their mobile apps, but an additional 45% plan to support this technology in the next 12 months, according to Evans Data Corp's newly released "Mobile Development Survey."

The survey, conducted in May 2013 with over 500 developers actively working on mobile apps, found that more developers have plans to support NFC in the near future than any of several other device features, including voice recognition, range finder, and device pairing. The primary driver for NFC support is security and access (keycards and dongles, identity, entry and access, boarding passes and transponders). Other popular drivers for NFC support are social networking, Bluetooth and wi-fi connectivity, and commerce.

"NFC is the next evolutionary step in mobile computing," said Janel Garvin, CEO of Evans Data Corp. (http://www.evansdata.com). "...

Worldwide IT spending is projected to total US$3.7 trillion in 2013, a 2% increase from 2012 spending of $3.6 trillion, according to the latest forecast by Gartner, Inc. (www.gartner.com). Last quarter, the research group's forecast for 2013 IT spending growth in U.S. dollars was 4.1%.

The 2.1 percentage point reduction mainly reflects the impact of recent fluctuations in U.S. dollar exchange rates; growth in constant currency is forecast at 3.5 percent for 2013, down only slightly from last quarter. For more than a decade, global IT and business executives have been using these highly anticipated quarterly reports to recognize market opportunities and challenges, and base their critical business decisions on proven methodologies rather than guesswork.

"Exchange rate movements, and a reduction in our 2013 forecast for devices, account for the bulk of the downward revision of the 2013 growth," says Richard...

ABI Research (www.abiresearch.com) predicts the number of large enterprises to adopt enterprise app stores will grow at double-digit rates through 2018.

Globally, large enterprise app store adoption will grow at 30.4% YoY [year-over-year] with the manufacturing and trade industries commanding the largest share of app deployments. North American and Western European enterprise app store adoption will grow healthily at 20.7% and 21.5%, respectively, but Asia-Pacific will have the most enterprises with enterprise app stores by 2018 growing at 59% YoY.

"Mobile application management is growing in popularity among enterprises looking to deploy flexible mobile solutions to support Bring-Your-Own-Device (BYOD) initiatives," says ABI Research senior analyst, Jason McNicol. "The problem is finding a scalable solution to deploy enterprise apps without placing additional burdens on IT departments. Enterprise...

Nearly one-third of US Telco TV households are expected to access multiscreen or TV Everywhere services by the end of 2013 -- the vast majority of which already use advanced interactive features like remote programming a DVR.

Cable is close behind due to its early lead, but the growth rate for these services is slower because of the greater diversity of cable households and services (not all service providers offer TVE), according to ABI Research (www.abiresearch.com) Satellite operators are further behind, due to slower starts and lack of in-house broadband services, but offer some novel experiences like Dish’s Sling place-shifting technology, says the research group.

"The market is still developing with many of the early growing pains, like authentication, finally starting to take a back seat to the content," comments senior analyst, Michael Inouye. "In many respects the technology is in place to...

Research and Markets (www.researchandmarkets.com) says the global computer NAS market will grow at a at a CAGR [compound annual growth rate] of 14.7% through 2016.

One of the key factors contributing to this market growth is the rapid growth in digital content globally, according to the research group. The Global Consumer NAS market has also been witnessing the increasing adoption of video surveillance services for households. However, the lack of technical knowledge about NAS appliances among the end-users could pose a challenge to the growth of this market. Key vendors dominating this space include Apple, Buffalo Technology, Iomega and Western Digital.

Commenting on the report, an analyst from Research and Market's Networking team said: One of the major trends being observed in the Global Consumer NAS market is the increasing adoption of video surveillance services by the end-users....

Research and Markets (www.researchandmarkets.com) says the enterprise mobility market in the Americas will grow at a CAGR [compound annual growth rate] of 13.8% through 2016.

One of the key factors contributing to this market growth is the need for real-time decision making, according to the research group. The enterprise mobility market in the Americas has also been witnessing an increased adoption of bring your own device policy. However, the growing concern for data security could pose a challenge to the growth of this market. The key vendors dominating this market space include Apple, Google, Microsoft and Research in Motion, says Research and Markets.

Commenting on the report, an analyst from the Telecom team said: "As a result of the growing adoption of enterprise mobility services, organizations are changing their device procurement processes. Earlier, companies had very strict...

According to new data from Parks Associates (www.parkassociates.com), 48% of U.S. smartphone owners currently use apps heavily for daily information and entertainment, while 15% use the phone to order food and 12% use it to shop for physical goods.

"Consumers are still concerned about the security of mobile payments, but these issues are less of a barrier for younger consumers -- over 60% of users 18-24 have made a mobile purchase in the past 30 days," says Jennifer Kent, Parks Associates mobile analyst. "The industry can employ non-payment offerings to show more consumers the benefits of mobile commerce, and as payment security standards improve, consumers' comfort level with mobile payments will rise."

By 2015, 84% of mobile subscribers in North America and 88% in Western Europe will be smartphone users. "Mobile payments in emerging markets pose enormous revenue potential for mobile carriers...

ABI Research (www.abiresearch.com) forecasts that the number of automotive apps downloaded in cars will jump from around 12 million at end of 2012 to 4.3 billion at end of 2018 generating revenues of US$1.67 globally.

"Car OEMs [original equipment manufacturers] now increasingly see infotainment as a key differentiator in their cars," says Gareth Owen, principal analyst at ABI Research. "We predict a sharp growth in the adoption of connected car infotainment systems over the next few years, with apps being the main driver, as for the iPhone."

With several proprietary, open standard, and open source systems vying to become the de-facto technology for downloading apps in the car, the battle for domination of the automotive app space is heating up, as car OEMs, Tier-1 suppliers, plus behemoths such as Apple and Google maneuver to capture the biggest slice of the automotive app cake. ABI Research also...

The worldwide business analytics software market is expected to grow at a 9.7% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) through 2017, according to a new forecast from International Data Corporation (IDC). Demand for business analytics solutions will continue to be driven by the promise of better and faster decision-making and competitive advantage that results from the ability to analyze and act upon information in a timely manner, according to the research group.

"There is growing quantifiable evidence that data-driven decision making enabled by business analytics solutions provides a competitive difference," says Dan Vesset, program vice president, Business Analytics at IDC (www.idc.com). "This, along with broad interest in big data, has pushed the technology to the top of many executive agendas and ushered it into the mainstream market."

In 2012, the worldwide business analytics software market grew 8.7% year over year...

A new study from ABI Research (www.abiresearch.com) finds that integration with social networks will add significant value to enterprises’ M2M strategies in the coming years.

Initially, this trend will concern companies’ internal social channels, such as Salesforce.com’s Chatter, which is forecasted to be actively used by 60,000 enterprises at end-2013. Going forward, the emphasis will shift towards Facebook and other consumer-facing networks, which ABI Research forecasts to cover 2.9 billion users by end-2018.

"There’s an intriguing intersection developing around social networks and M2M services," says senior analyst Aapo Markkanen. "At this stage the activity is nascent, but over the next five years we expect the relationship between the two to become increasingly synergistic. The innovations it results in will add a strong social ingredient to the decade’s true megatrend: the Internet of...

SOASTA (www.soasta.com), which specializes in cloud and mobile testing,has announced the findings of its "2013 Website and Mobile App Survey." Conducted online by Harris Interactive, the SOASTA survey questioned 2,046 American adults.

The survey found that almost nine out of 10 Americans associate negative feelings with brands that have poorly performing websites and mobile apps (88%), and have a negative reaction when a website is too slow (83%).

"Just as brick-and-mortar businesses invest heavily in their store front to represent their brand image, our research shows that ecommerce retailers need to create a similar high quality online experience in keeping with the brand perception," says Tom Lounibos, SOASTA CEO. "If companies want to remain competitive in the modern landscape, they need their web and mobile websites to engage the user and work as expected. Those that are creating a seamless...

According to a new research report by Berg Insight (www.berginsight.com), global sales of handsets featuring Near Field Communication (NFC) grew 300% in 2012 to reach 140 million units. Growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 48.2%, annual shipments are forecasted to reach 1 billion units by 2017.

Wider adoption of NFC in mobile phones began in 2011 and accelerated in 2012 when the top 10 handset vendors released nearly 100 NFC-enabled models. NFC technology enables numerous applications such as information exchange, device pairing for establishing Bluetooth or WLAN connections, access control, electronic ticketing and secure contactless payments.

However, Berg Insight anticipates that it will take some time before the stakeholders agree on business models for payment networks and access to secure elements that store the sensitive user information in NFC-enabled handsets. Once developers...

There is a fierce battle raging between Distributed Antenna Systems (DAS), Wi-Fi, and licensed small cells for coverage and capacity in enterprise wireless systems, according to ABI Research (www.abirsearch.com).

Each type of system has its strengths and weaknesses with Active DAS systems the choice for large corporations which we define as over 100,000 square feet and with more than 100 employees. Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) have the choice between Wi-Fi and small cells. There are two business models for DAS in large corporations: neutral-host or carrier-led.

"Neutral hosts are increasingly popular for multitenant situations since multicarrier DAS systems can add value with either carrier-led, venue-led or third party business models," says Nick Marshall, principal analyst, ABI Research.

Today, adding Wi-Fi is an attractive option for businesses since these systems are probably...

The growth of 802.11ac and 802.11ad will occur in very different ways. 802.11ac will explode into devices, including smartphones, from the start while 802.11ad will see a more modest and staggered growth, according to ABI Research (www.abiresearch.com).

802.11ac is being pushed into smartphones by key carriers’ device requirements that are in sync with 802.11ac hotspot plans for more robust Wi-Fi offloading.

"The push towards 11ac adoption overpowers the minor additional cost of dual-band 802.11n/802.11ac chipsets that will be used in smartphones," says research director Philip Solis. "Perhaps surprising even to industry insiders, we will likely see 2X2 802.11ac implementations in smartphones in a few years."

The proportion of various 802.11ac-enabled products will remain relatively consistent from 2013 to 2018, with smartphones making up 40% of those in 2013 and 46% in 2018, where over 3.5...

Worldwide carrier Wi-Fi deployments reached a total 4.9 million hotspots in 2012, according to ABI Research (www.abiresearch.com).

"Despite the successful adoption of 3G and 4G mobile data services, the number of Wi-Fi Hotspots has continued to proliferate and are anticipated to surpass 6.3 million by the end of 2013," comments industry analyst, Khin Sandi Lynn. The number includes Wi-Fi hotspots deployed by fixed-line and mobile carriers as well as third-party operators (e.g., Boingo, iPass, etc).

Wi-Fi has very much become a complement to 3G and 4G services and is now a mainstay of connectivity for the majority of smartphone, tablet, and laptop users because it is often free in many public Wi-Fi locations. This is particularly the case when a mobile user is roaming - Wi-Fi networks can help the user save a significant amount on mobile data roaming charges.

According to new data from the IDC research group (www.idc.com) global shipments of smart connected devices (PCs, tablets, and smartphones) are expected to surpass 1.7 billion units by 2014 with roughly one billion units delivered to emerging markets.

Within the emerging markets, the BRIC countries -- China, India, Brazil, and Russia -- are expected to generate shipments of 662 million units with a shipment value of more than US$206 billion. More than 650 million units are forecast to be shipped to developed markets, with the United States, UK, and Japan capturing more than 400 million units with a shipment value of $204 billion.

With the BRIC countries expected to surpass the total shipments to developed markets by 2014, it is clear that demand for smart connected devices is quickly shifting from developed to emerging markets. The emerging markets are expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 17...

Over 6.6 billion mobile phones will be in use by the end of 2017, according to CCS Insight's latest market forecast (www.ccsinsight.com). Two-thirds of them will be smartphones, up from less than 25% in 2012, according to the research group.

In the first three months of 2013, smartphone shipments exceeded those of non-smartphones for the first time ever. Sales of smartphones have been helped by new, cheaper devices, especially, but not only, in emerging markets. The mobile and media analyst firm expects 1.86 billion mobile phones to be shipped in 2013, of which 53% will be smartphones.

The blisteringly fast growth of smartphones in Western Europe and North America will see penetration levels approaching saturation point in these markets within three years, according to CCS Insight. More than 50% of the mobile phones in use in these regions are already smartphones. CCS Insight predicts this figure will...

Just over 950 million mobile phone users worldwide are expected to use their handsets for mobile ticketing by 2018, up from 458 million this year, according to a new report from Juniper Research (www.juniperresearch.com).

Growth is expected to be driven primarily within key transport verticals, although latterly significant uptake is anticipated across sectors such as live entertainment events and cinema ticketing. Juniper Research notes that the airline industry was a particularly strong proponent of mobile ticketing, with adoption of mobile boarding passes rising sharply since the worldwide implementation of BCBPs (Barcoded Boarding Passes) in 2010.

What's more, the research group observed that while mobile has for some years been a key ticketing delivery channel across Scandinavian metros, deployments were increasing both elsewhere in Europe and in the US and were achieving strong levels...

For the quarter, the total (internal plus external) disk storage systems market generated $7.7 billion in revenue, representing a decline of -3.2% from the prior year's first quarter. Total disk storage systems capacity shipped reached 7.8 exabytes, growing 26.4% year over year.

"Emerging markets drove growth within the global market but this was not enough to offset declines elsewhere," says Eric Sheppard, research director, Storage, IDC. "Independent storage suppliers were better positioned to capitalize on this new level of demand than their competitors, some of whom are currently working through product transitions and...

The combined consumer and enterprise worldwide wireless local area network (WLAN) market segments experienced year-over-year growth of 12.5% in the first quarter of 2013 (1Q13), per IDC (www.idc.com).
The enterprise segment continued to grow at a healthy rate of 19.3% over the same period last year, says the research group. The first quarter of 2013 was the thirteenth consecutive quarter with annual growth greater than 15%. The consumer WLAN market also started the year 2013 on a relative high note, growing 6.2% year over year.

"The explosion of mobile devices and the uptake of enterprise mobility applications continue to be top of mind for enterprise IT in terms of driving WLAN infrastructure growth across a wide range of enterprise verticals and use cases," says Rohit Mehra, vice president, Network Infrastructure, at IDC. "While this quarter saw some slowing of growth in Wi-Fi infrastructure rollouts for mobile...

For hoteliers to stay competitive, they need to look beyond room cost and consider improving their guest wireless experience, according to a commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Motorola Solutions (www.motorolasolutions.com) in April 2013.

This survey, which includes responses from 500 participants including North America IT decision-makers with responsibility for WLAN/Wi-Fi at hotels with 25 rooms or more, found there is a gap between expectations and performance of hotel WLAN performance. These IT decision-makers are identifying the complexity of offering guest wireless access, and the need to utilize it as a differentiator for guests in the hotel marketplace.

Thirty-one percent of IT decision-makers in hotels find WLAN infrastructure and operations to be lower than business expectations. More than half of hotel business decision-makers understand there are...

The shift of video consumption to tablets and smartphones is causing operator requirements for video on demand (VOD) systems to change as vendors struggle to keep up with current generation needs, according to ABI Research.

Equipment and system vendors, such as Arris (including Motorola Home), SeaChange, Cisco, and Ericsson are expected to lose ground to cloud-oriented companies such as thePlatform, Synacor, and KIT Digital (expected to emerge from bankruptcy as Piksel), according to the research group (www.abiresearch.com). VOD vendors will see less than 30% growth over the next five years, while content management system (CMS) vendors will capture the market and see nearly 100% growth to seize half of the total VOD management markets.

Classic VOD back-office systems are built around delivery to the TV via a set-top box, leveraging a single video format, a managed network, a modest number of...

Wireless access is the top customer demand of hotel guests in their rooms and throughout the hotel properties, according to a commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Motorola Solutions (www.motorolasolutions.com) in April 2013.

This survey includes responses from 500 North American hotel guests, including business and recreational travelers. Among the findings:

° 90% wished hotels offered WiFi as an amenity, making it the top priority of both business and recreational travelers.

° More than 90% of hotel guests surveyed indicated they wanted WiFi in their hotel rooms, not just in common areas.

° 40% of business travelers said they would not stay at a hotel without Internet.

Global mobile data traffic expanded at 69% in 2012 and is anticipated to grow at 72% in 2013 to reach 23,000 Peta Bytes (PB), according to ABI Research (www.abiresearch.com). By 2018 total mobile data traffic will likely eclipse 131,000PB, adds the research group.

"There has been much 'doom-mongering' about this growth in mobile data traffic but mobile carriers should not panic just yet. There are indications that mobile carriers have a number of options to handle the traffic loads," says Jake Saunders, vice president and practice director for core forecasting at ABI Research.

According to the research group:

° Carriers are commercializing LTE but there are additional benefits to be gained from quickly adopting the LTE-Advanced roadmap. LTE-A’s release 10 introduces enhanced Multi-In Multi-Out antenna technology as well as interference mitigation technologies such as CoMP and eICIC. A crucial...

Clips 3D dispenses 36 different exciting animated 3D HD clips. Videos can be dragged out of Clips 3D right onto an iMovie or Final Cut Pro X shot collection "event." The video clip immediately appears in the project.

Clips 3D's iPad like interface sits atop your editing program. Its royalty free content makes this helper application a great production tool for video makers. The Clips 3D library is sorted into four categories: Illusion, Physical, SiFi and Simulated.

Clips 3D for iMovie and FCPX supplies royalty free animations that are otherwise, difficult to create. These animations are useful as title backgrounds, transitions, credit rolls -- or simply as eye candy.

The Clips 3D application contains a pictorial help file, and a help video for easy learning. Shots are up to 30 seconds in duration, and are 720P HD, at 30 FPS, MP4-H.264 .MOV files. Clips 3D videos are...

According to the International Data Corporation (IDC) research group (www.idc.com), factory revenue in the worldwide server market decreased 7.7% year over year to US$10.9 billion in the first quarter of 2013 (1Q13).

This is the fifth time in the previous six quarters that the server market has experienced a year-over-year decline in worldwide revenue. Server unit shipments decreased 3.9% year over year in 1Q13 to 1.9 million units as consolidation continued to be a strategic focus for many large and small customers around the globe.

On a year-over-year basis, volume systems experienced a 3.1% revenue decline. This was only the third time in the previous fourteen quarters that volume system demand declined year over year. At the same time, demand for midrange and high-end systems experienced year-over-year revenue declines of 18.3% and 17.1% respectively in 1Q13. The midrange and high-end markets were impacted by...

New data from the IDC research group (www.idc.com) showed first quarter 2013 (1Q13) videoconferencing equipment revenue declined 13.2% year over year and 21.9% quarter over quarter. Total worldwide enterprise videoconferencing and telepresence equipment revenue was US$563.4 million in 1Q13, its worst result since the second quarter of 2010, according to IDC.

From a market segment perspective, endpoints, which include multi-codec immersive telepresence, single-codec telepresence, and personal videoconferencing, declined 10.7% year over year and video network infrastructure decreased 20.5% year over year in 1Q13.

Regionally, Latin America declined just 3.5% year over year, followed by the 9.1% year-over-year decline in Asia/Pacific and the 10.1% decrease in Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA). North America was a particular area of weakness this quarter with its 20.3% year-over-year drop.

NFC momentum continues to build despite the on-going delays affecting the launch of NFC payment services, according to new data from ABI Research (www.abiresearch.com). The research group raised full year 2012 shipments of secure elements to 147 million with 125 million enabled handsets being shipped.

Growing inclusion of embedded solutions by OEMs [original equipment manufacturers] will account for the majority of secure elements in 2013 as MNOs seed the market with close to 100 million SWP SIM cards, says ABI Research. Expected NFC-enabled device shipments were increased, with 2013 forecasted to reach a minimum of 320 million units across all product categories -- an increase of 118% over last year. This will drive the market past the half billion NFC devices in use in 1H13.

"This is certainly encouraging after many years of 'will they, won’t they.'The market has now passed the tipping point and...

IDC (www.idc.com) has released the latest forecast from the Worldwide Semiannual Software Tracker. For 2012, the worldwide software market grew 3.6% year over year, less than half the growth rate experienced in 2010 and 2011.

The research group believes these results mark the beginning of a more conservative period of growth. The forecast growth rate for 2013 is 5.7% while the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for the 2012-2017 forecast period is 6.3%.

The collaborative applications software category is forecast to have the highest growth in the short term (2013). This category includes social software, which is growing from a lower revenue base. The collaborative applications category is also experiencing more cloud deployments than other categories and this represents new software investments.

The structured data management software category is expected to show the strongest growth over the five-year...

The use of ICTs within the electrical grid means an evolution from isolated structures into open and networked environments where the subversion of power control systems has become a reality. The restructuring of the power sector and the emergence of the smart grid has largely ignored the issue of cyber security, according to ABI Research (www.abiresearch.com).

Industrial control systems have poor methods of authentication, little encryption, and are not often capable of detecting intrusions, according to the research group. By failing to address cyber security, and focusing on the cost-savings and gained efficiencies of a market-oriented model, the susceptibility to cyber-attacks has grown. ABI Research estimates the spending on cyber security solutions to secure the infrastructure will total US$2.9 billion globally by the end of 2013.

The worldwide software market grew 3.6% year over year in 2012, less than half the growth rate experienced in 2010 and 2011, according to the "International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Semiannual Software Tracker."

Although some deceleration was expected, the economic contraction in the mature markets of Western Europe and Japan played a determinant role in the overall market performance, according to the research group. Meanwhile, the emerging markets of Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East, and Africa (CEMA), Latin America, and Asia/Pacific (excluding Japan, Australia, and New Zealand) enjoyed year-over-year growth of 7.2% in 2012. This was the fourth consecutive year of solid growth in these emerging markets, enabling them to collectively gain more than two points of worldwide market share over this period.

Mature markets still represent more than 85% of the worldwide software opportunity, but in recent years the strong growth in these emerging markets has...

From the C-level on down, the buzz about mobile in retail has steadily increased ever since Apple began using mobile devices in their stores. The use of tablets (such as the iPad) is growing rapidly, with shipments increasing at a rate of 38% in 2013, according to "Mobile POS: Hype to Reality," a new study from research firm IHL Group.

According to the research findings, the Mobile POS market will surpass US$2 billion in hardware/software sales in North America in 2013, and 28% of North American retailers plan to adopt Mobile POS in some form by the end of 2013. An even greater number (33%), however, do not plan to adopt Mobile POS at all within the next three years. The adoption rate is very dependent on the type of retailer and volume of transactions.

"Mobile POS continues to receive a lot of hype, and some specific announcements have received a lot of press," says Greg Buzek, president of IHL Group. "But the vast majority of retailers are taking a slow and...

When all is said and done with the usual caveat that most is said and little done, people make decisions with their emotions and guts, not their brains. This has been noted here before in connection with the stock market and the purchase of cheap imitation PCs (rather than the real thing -- Macs).

Last month's Provincial election here in British Columbia illustrates the same principle in the practice of politics. (Note: in Canada, municipal, Provincial, and Federal elections are independent of one another both in timing and in party affiliations.) A tired, scandal-ridden, and seemingly unpopular Liberal government (no connection with the Federal party of the same name) was running for a re-election the pundits universally thought a cakewalk for the socialist opposition.

A new Conservative party would split the free-enterprise vote, they opined, and the NDP (New Democrat Party) would win a landslide. Every "professional"...

ChangeWave's previous three monthly surveys picked up improvements in US consumer spending, and the research group's latest survey shows another uptick for May.

Importantly, the survey of 2,252 US consumers shows the best overall spending environment in the past year, along with a modest uptick in expectations and confidence. ChangeWave (www.http://changewaveresearch.com) is also seeing improvements for several categories, including travel/vacation, durable goods and consumer electronics.

Among retailers, Amazon is best positioned to outperform on the home entertainment front, while spending intentions for most other major retailers are holding steady this month, according to the research group.

Customers are in the midst of a total mobile mind shift. They're not interested in brand messaging or logos; they want utility -- and they want it now.

New Forrester data (www.forrester.com) shows that 22% of US online adults are far along in this shift, connecting everywhere, frequently, on multiple devices. For marketers, meeting the needs of this demanding customer base in a mobile setting is a marketing imperative.

In a new Forrester report that debuted at the annual Forrester Marketing Forum in LA, Analyst Melissa Parrish detailed marketing strategy for the mobile mind shift. She notes it will depend on the frequency of brand/customer interactions and the quality of the experience of these interactions. For instance, brands that offer high-quality, frequent interactions (think Starbucks, Disney), should expand their customer relationships by rolling out new mobile features. Brands with low-quality...

The worldwide personal and entry-level storage (PELS) market grew 73.4% year over year with 20.2 million units shipped in the first quarter of 2013 (1Q13), according to the IDC research group (www.idc.com).

Shipment value experienced growth of 54.1% year over year to $1.8 billion. This is the second consecutive quarter of year-over-year growth in worldwide shipment value.

"The first quarter of 2013 brought strong shipment and revenue growth as well as continued recovery to the personal and entry-level storage market," says Liz Conner, senior research analyst, Storage Systems, IDC. "A year after the PELS market saw record declines due to the Thailand floods and resulting hard disk drive (HDD) shortage, the PELS market has recovered back to pre-flood levels. Continued end user data growth, increased awareness on the need for data storage/back-up, declining average selling prices, and evolving vendor product offerings...

ABI Research’s (www.abiresearch.com) latest mobile Internet pricing tracker reinforces the notion that there are essentially five mobile Internet pricing models in operation: the Tiered Usage Pricing Plan; the All You Can Eat Data Plan; the Unlimited Plan with Speed Restriction; the Data Surfing Time Plan; and the Multi-device Shared Plan.

Although much talked about, Multi-device Shared Plans are relatively novel with approximately only 5% of mobile subscribers having the option to subscribe to Multi-device Shared Plans. Of the addressable market, 15% can choose from All You Can Eat Data plans, but 66% only have recourse to the traditional Tiered

"Mobile operators should be prepared to adopt novel pricing models in order to boost subscriber adoption and therefore incremental revenue. Multi-device Shared Plans have helped operators like Verizon in the US to boost revenue per account," says Jake...

A new report from Juniper Research (www.juniperresearch.com) has found that by 2017, two billion mobile and tablet users will watch TV and video on their devices. This is attributed to the growing popularity of short and easily shared video clips, and the increased global uptake of connected devices with faster processors and better displays.
The report examines how mobile is increasingly being used as the primary screen for consuming TV and video content among younger demographics, and the seamless integration of streaming services with social networks. Sharing content via handsets or tablets has become an intuitive experience for many.

What's more, the success that many streaming providers such as Netflix, have achieved online has led them to offer truly multi-screen experiences via smartphones and tablets. This move has begun to affect the Pay-TV business, with the threat of consumers "...

The research group notes that Apple continued its dominance in the tablet applications processor market with 48% revenue share in 2012. NVIDIA, Texas Instruments, Samsung and Qualcomm made up the rest of the top-five vendors. Strategy Analytics identified that a handful of Chinese tablet chip vendors captured 20 % volume share between them.

ABI Research (www.abiresearch.com) predicts subscribers of enterprise mobile content management (MCM) solutions will grow at double-digit rates to over 110 million by 2018. Smartphone subscribers of MCM will grow at a modest 12% YoY [year-over-year] whereas corporate-liable tablet subscribers will grow 21% over the next five years, according to the research group.

North America and Western Europe are the largest subscribing markets;.Asia Pacific will stay in the number three position throughout the forecast period but grow nearly twice as fast as the regional leaders.

"As the Bring-Your-Own-Device phenomenon becomes more widely accepted within enterprises, more corporate content is being placed in the cloud using consumer-grade storage solutions. As such, more corporate content is susceptible to leakage and theft, placing a higher need on mobile content security and protection," says Jason McNicol,...

Parks Associates (www.parksassociates.com) estimates that mobile app revenues in the U.S. and Canada will reach nearly US$22 billion in 2017, fueled mainly by in-app purchases and in-app advertising revenues.

"Tablet owners show a greater tendency than smartphone users to make in-app purchases, with more than 20% having upgraded from a free to a paid version of an app," said Harry Wang, Health & Mobile Product Research, Parks Associates. "The mobile app market has entered a new, more mature stage where companies need to employ precise segmentation and deployment strategies in order to generate consumer interest and realize successful monetization."

LTE-capable networks will continue to mushroom around the globe through 2018. In particular, frequency-division duplex (FDD) networks will see their population coverage expanding at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 33% between 2012 and 2018 to hit 57%, according to ABI Research (www.abiresearch.com).

Time-division duplex (TDD) networks will gain ground at a more rapid rate of 43% during this period but will only reach 52% population coverage due to fewer licensed markets currently, according to the research group. This overall picture is consistent with the contracts awarded to vendors thus far this year. Slightly more than half of the contracts concluded are related to LTE-FDD.

"However, LTE-TDD will start to close the gap," says Ying Kang Tan, research associate at ABI Research. "Dual-mode device chipsets supporting both variants as well as converged FDD/TDD network solutions are already...

ABI Research's (www.abiresearch.com) latest data on the Internet of Everything (IoE) shows that there are more than 10 billion wirelessly connected devices in the market today; with over 30 billion devices expected by 2020.

"The emergence of standardized ultra-low power wireless technologies is one of the main enablers of the IoE, with semiconductor vendors and standards bodies at the forefront of the market push, helping to bring the IoE into reality," says Peter Cooney, practice director. "The year 2013 is seen by many as the year of the Internet of Everything, but it will still be many years until it reaches its full potential. The next five years will be pivotal in its growth and establishment as a tangible concept to the consumer.”

Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, ZigBee, Cellular, RFID, and many other wireless technologies are all important to drive Internet of Everything growth. The long term expansion of...

Organizations across the globe are searching for ways to capture the power of “Big Data” to unlock workforce insights. Unfortunately, many organizations get lost in the fog of big data analysis. The latest release of Mercer Analytics (www.mercer.com) addresses this challenge by leveraging the power of Long Data to unlock insights into an organization’s most valuable asset: its talent.

Long Data, a term coined by mathematician and network scientist Samuel Arbesman, is described as "data sets that have massive historical sweep." In terms of workforce analytics, Big Data provides deep analysis typically focused on a point in time, while Long Data provides insights from stories that have unfolded over time. Thoughtful analysis of Long Data therefore allows organizations to identify, segment and analyze data as part of an ongoing process to drive meaningful results, according to Mercer Analytics. It can also mitigate the...

4G networks are launching fast and moving to a flat and distributed hierarchy. Dictated by performance needs, data management is moving closer to the network edge, according to new data from ABI Research (www.abiresearch.com).

This evolution of the network from a centralized data center to a distributed architecture, can be thought of as a "data center without walls," according to the research group. The historical paradigm for mobile networks is the hierarchical and centralized core network.

The advent of 3G and 4G mobile broadband greatly increases the data traffic to the IP Network and Internet point of presence, says ABI Research. This gives rise to the specialist DPI and Optimization firms, such as Allot and Sandvine, who prosper with high performance, purpose built custom hardware that sits in the data stream for inspection and management.

For the ninth year in a row, CEOs rate Texas as the #1 state in which to do business, according to Chief Executive Magazine's annual Best & Worst States Survey.

Florida, North Carolina, Tennessee and Indiana also made the top five. The states rated worst for business are California, New York, Illinois, Massachusetts and New Jersey.

The Best & Worst States Survey measures the sentiments of CEOs on a range of issues, including regulations, tax policies, workforce quality, educational resources, quality of living and infrastructure. For the 2013 survey, 736 CEOs from across the country evaluated the states between Jan. 16 and Feb. 14, 2013. Ohio was the biggest gainer in this year's survey, rising 13 spots from #35 to #22. \

CEOs say California's poor ranking is the result of a perceived hostility to business, high state taxes and onerous regulations, all of which drive investment, companies and jobs to other states. According to the California...

PCalc is a full-featured, scriptable scientific calculator with support for hexadecimal, octal, and binary calculations, as well as an RPN mode, programmable functions, and an extensive set of unit... Read more

FileZilla 3.10.2 - Fast and reliable FTP...

FileZilla (ported from Windows) is a fast and reliable FTP client and server with lots of useful features and an intuitive interface.
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The Hit List 1.1.11 - Advanced reminder...

The Hit List manages the daily chaos of your modern life. It's easy to learn - it's as easy as making lists. And it's powerful enough to let you plan, then forget, then act when the time is right.... Read more

Bartender 1.2.32 - Organize your menu ba...

Bartender lets you organize your menu bar apps.
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See your menu bar apps when you want.
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ClamXav 2.7.5 - Free virus checker, base...

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xScope 4.1.2 - Onscreen graphic measurem...

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MacFamilyTree 7.3.3 - Create and explore...

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PushPal 3.0 - Mirror Android notificatio...

PushPal is a client for Pushbullet, which automatically shows you all of your phone's notifications right on your computer. This means you can see who's calling or read text messages even if your... Read more

At this point it’s pretty safe to say that no MOBA is going to dethrone Dota 2 and League of Legends anytime soon. After all, if Batman can’t do it, nobody can. However, with a genre as popular and profitable as this one, there’s still room for... | Read more »

Final February Fun at 148Apps
How do you know what apps are worth your time and money? Just look to the review team at 148Apps. We sort through the chaos and find the apps you’re looking for. The ones we love become Editor’s Choice, standing out... | Read more »

GDC 2015 – Does Not Commute is Definitel...

GDC 2015 – Does Not Commute is Definitely a Game You Should Keep an Eye on
Posted by Rob Rich on March 2nd, 2015 [ permalink ]
We were teased about Mediocre Games’ (Smash Hit,
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F84 Games & POW! Announce Stan Lee V...

F84 Games has announced that it is working with legendary comic creator Stan Lee and POW! Entertainment to produce Stan Lee’s Hero Command. The game will be a action adventure of heroic proportions.
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Setlyst Keeps Your Set Straight So You C...

Setlyst Keeps Your Set Straight So You Can Focus On Rocking Out.
Posted by Jessica Fisher on March 2nd, 2015 [ permalink ]
Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
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Space is Vast, So Space Agency Has a Vas...

Space is Vast, So Space Agency Has a Vast New Update!
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Size DOES Matter Review

Size DOES Matter Review
By Campbell Bird on March 2nd, 2015
Our Rating: :: HARD TO BEATUniversal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
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The first ever action 3D card battler Al...

On the other hand, you probably haven’t played an action 3D card battler – until now. Step forward, All Star Legion.
All Star Legion is a 3D QTE-based action RPG card battler, but fear not – the game itself isn’t as convoluted as its description.... | Read more »

Travel Back to the 1980s With the Making...

Headup Games has released a hilarious making of video for its upcoming title, Pixel Heroes: Byte & Magic. The game is a RPG/Roguelike where you control three heroes set to save the township of Pixton from an evil cult called The Sons of Dawn.... | Read more »

Price Scanner via MacPrices.net

Sale! 15-inch 2.2GHz Retina MacBook Pro for $...

Best Buy has the 15″ 2.2GHz Retina MacBook Pro on sale for $1774.99 $1799.99, or $225 off MSRP. Choose free home shipping or free local store pickup (if available). Price valid for online orders... Read more

27-inch 3.5GHz 5K iMac in stock today and on...

B&H Photo has the 27″ 3.5GHz 5K iMac in stock today and on sale for $2299 including free shipping plus NY sales tax only. Their price is $200 off MSRP, and it’s the lowest price available for... Read more

Apple Launches Free Web-Based Pages and Other...

Apple’s new Web-only access to iWork productivity apps is a free level of iCloud service available to anyone, including people who don’t own or use Apple devices. The service includes access to Apple... Read more

Survey Reveals Solid State Disk (SSD) Technol...

In a recent SSD technology use survey, Kroll Ontrack, a firm specializing in data recovery, found that while nearly 90 percent of respondents leverage the performance and reliability benefits of SSD... Read more

Save up to $600 with Apple refurbished Mac Pr...

The Apple Store is offering Apple Certified Refurbished Mac Pros for up to $600 off the cost of new models. An Apple one-year warranty is included with each Mac Pro, and shipping is free. The... Read more

Apple CEO Tim Cook will deliver the George Washington University’s Commencement address to GWU grads on May 17, at which time he will also be awarded an honorary doctorate of public service from the... Read more

Apple restocks refurbished Mac minis for up t...

The Apple Store has restocked Apple Certified Refurbished 2014 Mac minis, with models available starting at $419. Apple’s one-year warranty is included with each mini, and shipping is free:
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Walmart has the 16GB iPad Air 2 WiFi on sale for $446.99 on their online store for a limited time. Choose free shipping or free local store pickup (if available). Sale price for online orders only,... Read more

Jobs Board

*Apple* Solutions Consultant - Retail Sales...

**Job Summary** As an Apple Solutions Consultant (ASC) you are the link between our customers and our products. Your role is to drive the Apple business in a retail
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**Job Summary** At Apple , great ideas have a way of becoming great products, services, and customer experiences very quickly. Bring passion and dedication to your job
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Sr. Technical Services Consultant, *Apple*...

**Job Summary** Apple Professional Services (APS) has an opening for a senior technical position that contributes to Apple 's efforts for strategic and transactional
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Event Director, *Apple* Retail Marketing -...

…This senior level position is responsible for leading and imagining the Apple Retail Team's global engagement strategy and team. Delivering an overarching brand
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*Apple* Pay - Site Reliability Engineer - Ap...

**Job Summary** Imagine what you could do here. At Apple , great ideas have a way of becoming great products, services, and customer experiences very quickly. Bring
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